IMPERIUS REX! Namor the Sub-Mariner Appreciation 2024

[ImperiusWrecked]

Namor art by Alex Maleev

[Reviresco]

OMG. That's gorgeous! I bet it's a commission. Beautiful!

[Reviresco]

Namor will be featured in Giant-Sized Fantastic Four #1 in February.

I'm not sure who the Atlantean is on the cover but I hope it isn't Namor.


(W) Fabian Nicieza (A) Creees Lee (CA) Bryan Hitch
IMPERIUS REX!
Namor is imprisoned, serving out his sentence as the disgraced King of Atlantis! So when a new yet ancient threat arises from the sea, who better to leap into the fray than Marvel's First Family: the FANTASTIC FOUR! Writer FABIAN NICIEZA and artist CREEES LEE join forces for a GIANT-SIZE deep dive into some of Atlantis' most dangerous history...and the present that can scarcely hope to contain it! PLUS: Includes a reprinting of FANTASTIC FOUR #33, a classic issue from Stan Lee and Jack Kirby featuring betrayal, action and high drama - in the Atlantean style!
Rated T+
In Shops: Feb 28, 2024

It's already confirmed not to be Namor, it's one of his ancient ancestors. We won't know if Namor makes an appearance in the comic until its out.

Listening to Fabian Nicieza interview at Near Mint Condidition. He said this is going to have Atlantean and Lemurian history. Didn't mention Namor at all.

[ImperiusWrecked]

Listening to Fabian Nicieza interview at Near Mint Condidition. He said this is going to have Atlantean and Lemurian history. Didn't mention Namor at all.

Frustrating how Sub-Mariner lore is always brought about in books that aren't Namor's, like I know beggars cant be choosy or whatever but imagine if we had Atlantean/Lemurian lore in a Namor book and not F4.

[Doombot]

Listening to Fabian Nicieza interview at Near Mint Condidition. He said this is going to have Atlantean and Lemurian history. Didn't mention Namor at all.

I don't mind a story that expands or deepens Marvel's Atlantean lore, even if Namor isn't the focus. Of course I'd rather it in a Sub-Mariner book, but it's better than nothing. I'm also weary of another "lost king of Atlantis" thing. But he looks cool, so I hope for something cool.

[Thirteen]

Namor art by Alex Maleev

Gorgeous! And I think it's pretty uncommon to see Namor submerge into a body of water. Most of his remarkable images show him breaching the surface.

[Reviresco]

Frustrating how Sub-Mariner lore is always brought about in books that aren't Namor's, like I know beggars cant be choosy or whatever but imagine if we had Atlantean/Lemurian lore in a Namor book and not F4.

Yep. Especially when it's by writers that aren't going to write Namor or Atlantis in his own book or again. It's just a throwaway line in a story... that often has nothing to do with what has come before.

I don't mind a story that expands or deepens Marvel's Atlantean lore, even if Namor isn't the focus. Of course I'd rather it in a Sub-Mariner book, but it's better than nothing. I'm also weary of another "lost king of Atlantis" thing. But he looks cool, so I hope for something cool.

It's the secret history thing again, which is fine, if it doesn't "change everything you knew!" Because someone suggested the creative team for a revamp or ongoing for Namor, I read the Hawkman book that Hitch and Robert Venditti did and it was really good, pulling together many of the various origins and revamps of Hawkman, and Hitch did some insane pages, especially some double pages. Of course, I am not a Hawkman reader or familiar with the character, so I'm not sure what Hawkman fans thought.


I don't know if this was posted before, but apparently it's to explain Imperius Rex. ?side eye?

For good or ill, I thought, "What if when Namor shouted, 'Imperius Rex,' he was harkening back to an actual, mythical Atlantean 'eternal king'...?"

[Doombot]

I don't mind "secret histories" usually, but Marvel's Atlantis barely has a "non-secret" history. I've never seen a fictional area in Marvel or anywhere else really, go through so many secret histories and lost kings and kingdoms that barely has an original history to retcon in the first place.

[ImperiusWrecked]

Gorgeous! And I think it's pretty uncommon to see Namor submerge into a body of water. Most of his remarkable images show him breaching the surface.

Plenty of cool underwater Namor arts out there but yeah I think the breaching the ocean Namor is what artists like to do more. a few examples just bc of the limit of images per post

Patricia Smith

art namor patricia smith.jpg

John Watson

john watson.jpg

But this is one of my all time favorite submerged Namor arts, by Daniel Clarke

Daniel Clarke.jpg

[ImperiusWrecked]

Yep. Especially when it's by writers that aren't going to write Namor or Atlantis in his own book or again. It's just a throwaway line in a story... that often has nothing to do with what has come before.




It's the secret history thing again, which is fine, if it doesn't "change everything you knew!" Because someone suggested the creative team for a revamp or ongoing for Namor, I read the Hawkman book that Hitch and Robert Venditti did and it was really good, pulling together many of the various origins and revamps of Hawkman, and Hitch did some insane pages, especially some double pages. Of course, I am not a Hawkman reader or familiar with the character, so I'm not sure what Hawkman fans thought.


I don't know if this was posted before, but apparently it's to explain Imperius Rex. ?side eye?

I feel like writers need to stop trying to explain Imperius Rex, but I'm willing to see what they do with it, anything is better than Jason Aaron's dumb "it means I'm gonna rip you apart" joke in Thor

I don't mind "secret histories" usually, but Marvel's Atlantis barely has a "non-secret" history. I've never seen a fictional area in Marvel or anywhere else really, go through so many secret histories and lost kings and kingdoms that barely has an original history to retcon in the first place.

Marvel is trying to deconstruct something they never built in the first place :/

[Reviresco]

Gorgeous! And I think it's pretty uncommon to see Namor submerge into a body of water. Most of his remarkable images show him breaching the surface.

Hmmmm. I'm not sure about that, though the ones breaching the surface are dramatic. They also show his dual nature as a creature of water and air.

But his most iconic image is underwater, the Buscema cover to Subby #1 -- though many underwater images like that don't actually feel like they are underwater. Oh, and the throne images, too. Here's a couple fan arts / commissions that do look like they are underwater.





BRIAN STELFREEZE




MEL URAN


I just realized the Maleev piece is similar to this one by Simon Bianchi ... but cleaner and without the sea life.

[Thirteen]

Not to belabor my point about the Maleev image but, its not that he's underwater that I find to be distinctive - its that he shown as having just breathed the surface to enter the body of water rather than leave it. Like a diver entering a pool being captured by an underwater cam...

[Doombot]

I'm more distracted in the Maleev image by how awful the trident is lol

[Reviresco]

I'm more distracted in the Maleev image by how awful the trident is lol

LOL! Maybe it's actually like an eating utensil. It looks like it would wind up a plate of noodles very well.

[Reviresco]

Not to belabor my point about the Maleev image but, its not that he's underwater that I find to be distinctive - its that he shown as having just breathed the surface to enter the body of water rather than leave it. Like a diver entering a pool being captured by an underwater cam...

Interesting point. I think it illustrates what we've complained about here, about the limited perception of editorial and maybe the general public, that Namor only works best when he interacts with, and threatens, the surface. He's exploding from a hidden and frightening world, an otherworldly force, to take on the air breathers. It's passively getting a simple, or single, message from the subconscious. It's reducing the Other, or nature, to invasion of the familiar and known world.

Whereas Namor diving into the water, is about returning to his home, a place that the surface doesn't see or understand, that is alien and inhospitable. It is about actively exploring the subconscious -- which is harder and takes self awareness and the courage. It's about worldbuilding and, pardon the pun, submerging, into other cultures and places.


Of course, I don't think artists consider all that when drawing Namor ...at least not consciously. Yes, I'm rambling and probably overthinking.